Hey, everyone. This is JJ Justman calling from Kilimanjaro with Team Orlando. Sorry for the summit call way up high; it was havoc. There were a ton of people and for some reason they all wanted to hoot and holler and have a big party while I was trying to send my dispatch. We had a great summit day today; the team did just a fantastic job. Actually, I've had all the great climbs here on Kilimanjaro but this team just did an incredible job getting up and down in style. We're back at Barafu Camp, the high camp here at 15,000'. We're actually packing up and we're heading down to what we call Mweka Camp at 10,000' and that's going to be our last night in the mountains, in the forests here of Kilimanjaro and then we're heading out tomorrow back to the hotel. Everyone says hello to friends and family. Again, everyone reach the summit today. There's no doubt it's a great way to do this climb. And we're now looking at our next objective of just kind of resting, relaxing, having a little bit of a fiesta, and then heading onto safari. So we'll stay in touch with all of you. Stay tuned tomorrow, I'll send a bunch of summit photos and we'll talk to you again from Tanzania. Take care everyone.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Way to go Erwin !!!! We are cheering or you from Charleston! You are the coolest mom at Ashley Hall by a landslide! The images are beautiful. I can’t wait to see more and hear all about it! Enjoy every minute! Best, Susannah and Matt
Posted by: Susannah and Matt Hubbell on 9/11/2015 at 3:02 pm
To Thom, Kara and friends from team Orlando
So proud of all of you. We were with you every step of the way!
Congratulations on reaching the summit.
Enjoy a well deserved rest when you get back to the hotel.
Love you! Thom’s mom
Greetings from the Dik Dik Hotel. We are all off the mountain safe and sound.
This morning we woke up with the sun just before 7. After some crepes and porridge for breakfast we hit the trail. It was a little slick and muddy from the rain yesterday but everyone was motivated to get down to the trailhead so it didn't slow us down. Once we reached the road it was drizzling so we just jumped in the truck and drove back to the hotel.
Now we are taking turns showering, having lunch and packing for safari. Tomorrow morning the second phase of the trip starts, but tonight we are going to celebrate a great time on Kilimanjaro.
Here is a summit pic from yesterday.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Congratulations on your successful climb. What a great opportunity and adventure to travel to Africa. Look forward to seeing you and hearing more about your trip when you return home. You are in our prayers.
Posted by: Aunt Tout & Uncle Russ on 8/13/2015 at 10:49 am
Llex and all, Have fun and safe travels on the safari! Love you!!!! Mom and Dad
Hey, everyone. This is JJ Justman with Team Orlando here on Kilimanjaro. We're at high camp at the Barafu Camp at 15,200 feet. Everyone is doing really, really well. We had a nice day to get up here to high camp. We are hydrating, resting, taking it easy, organizing gear. Weather is looking very nice. Some happy clouds here in the late afternoon, and we are really looking forward to a beautiful summit day tomorrow. So stay tuned, and we will hopefully, keeping the fingers crossed, which I'm thinking things are going to be great. We are all going to be standing on top of Kilimanjaro. We'll give you a call from the summit. Take care everyone. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Hey, this is JJ Justman. We are checking in from Karanga Camp here at 13,000+ feet on Kilimanjaro with Team Orlando. We're doing great. We're heading to high camp tomorrow. We had a beautiful day of climbing the Barranco Wall, which was pretty exciting. Actually the team is bummed that some of the rock scrambling and a little exposure is over, but everyone is feeling great!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Jambo! The group is all down at 10,000' at our last camp. The weather was great for our summit push but we walked into a misty cloud above camp. It's drizzling a little as I type this.
We started our climb with an 11:30PM wake up call and 12:30AM departure. There wasn't much wind all night but we did get a little chilly. We hit the crater rim just before sunrise and watched the sun come up from just below the summit. After our summit pics the team descended well and we were back in camp before 10:00. Tomorrow we have a few hours of hiking in the morning and then back to the Dik Dik Hotel.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall[Audio from the summit below]
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall calls from the Roof of Africa!
Hey, this is JJ Justman with Team Orlando on Kilimanjaro. We reached the Barranco Camp at just over 13,000 feet. We had a great day getting up here and the team is doing well. We are going to settle in, have dinner and move on from there. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Go go JJ…Waltero from IN / Aconcagua…Did I tell you you are my new favorite cinematagropher !
Posted by: Waltero on 8/11/2015 at 7:37 am
The view looks amazing! Enjoy it while you can. Glad everything is going so well. The relaxation will be necessary for another strong climb tomorrow. Hope to see a few summit snapshots! Good luck Catarina, and everyone else too.
Hello from High Camp on Kilimanjaro. We are having great weather on this trip so far. We're hoping it keeps holding for a couple more days.
Today was a pretty light day on the trail. We were under three hours moving up from 13,000' to 15,000'. Our plan for the rest of the day is to relax and get ready for the climb. If all goes well we will be near the summit when the sun rises in the morning. Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Jared- the summit is almost yours! I cannot imagine what you & Scott will see & feel once you scale the mountain & are on top! So glad you are with Scott. Bless your hearts! Love you, Mom
We are at Karanga Valley. That's one camp below high camp. We had another great weather day and the crew is strong. I'm going to hand off the rest of the dispatch to some of the folks on the trip.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Barranco Camp was one of the most gorgeous places on earth. Today's climb was fantastic. We prefer our rocks scrambled, so we took the opportunity to have fun on the Barranco Wall (tell your friends). Looking forward to moving on to high camp tomorrow and then making the summit push starting tomorrow at midnight. #chillimanjaro
Team Orlando arrived at Shira Camp 12,570 feet. Today hiked the trail which became steeper and rockier as the vegetation thinned away. The gnarled trunks of heather disappeared and we entered the moorland, the grasses and rocky terrain unique to Eastern Africa,
After we ascended the wide ridge we gained the Shira Plateau. We descended a few hundred feet along the edge and into our camp that is tucked among sparse vegetation and volcanic rock bands. We have beautiful views of Kilimanjaro's upper slopes as well as Mt Meru.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
We traveled to Kilimanjaro National Park today. We registered with the Park and we began our climb. We left the cultivation zone where bananas and coffee plants abound and we entered the forest zone. The lush rainforest of Kilimanjaro's lower slopes were covered in mist.
The trail, which is an old jeep trail, soon narrowed into a beautiful trail that winded through thick vegetation and enormous trees. We kept an eye out for the elusive Blue and Colobus monkeys but they were hiding from the rain.
As we approached Machame Camp we left the forest zone and into the Heather and Moorland zone. We saw some heather that is over 30 feet tall! It's nice to be at 10,000 feet and the team is doing great!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Way to go Erwin !!!! We are cheering or you from Charleston! You are the coolest mom at Ashley Hall by a landslide! The images are beautiful. I can’t wait to see more and hear all about it! Enjoy every minute! Best, Susannah and Matt
Posted by: Susannah and Matt Hubbell on 9/11/2015 at 3:02 pm
To Thom, Kara and friends from team Orlando
So proud of all of you. We were with you every step of the way!
Congratulations on reaching the summit.
Enjoy a well deserved rest when you get back to the hotel.
Love you! Thom’s mom
Posted by: Judy Heinchon on 8/13/2015 at 11:50 am
View All Comments